1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to manufacturing decorative wood articles that have etched patterns formed therein by a masking/particle blasting process.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the past, wood articles have been patterned by adhering sand-blast resistant masks to the surface of a wood article, followed by sand-blasting the masked wood surface to etch the unmasked portions. The masks are subsequently removed to reveal the contrast between the patterned flat relief and the etched wood grain. The prior art techniques for applying the mask to the wood surface are labor intensive, leading to high costs and low production output. Specifically, a strip of rubber, thermoplastic, or other sand-blast resistant material is die stamped or patterned by some other cutting machine. The patterned strip is secured to the wood surface using an adhesive. Portions of the strip are then removed by hand to produce the mask on the surface of the wood article. Strips which have been patterned (stamped) with very intricate designs require considerably longer periods of time for producing the mask which will ultimately be used to pattern the wood since each small sacrificial piece of the strip must be removed by hand. In addition to being labor-intensive, the prior art technique for creating the pattern on the wood surface leads to etching problems during sand-blasting. In particular, if part of the mask is pulled up while removing sacrificial portions of the die stamped strip, the blasting material will be able to etch the wood underneath the portion of the mask that is not adhered tightly to the wood surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,786 to Tallman discloses variation on the wood sign sandblasting technique described above. Specifically, a flexible sheet material laminate having a "sign" material component and a "mask" material component is patterned using a laminate cutting machine. Sacrificial portions of the laminate are discarded to form a mask that is positioned on the surface of a wood article. The pattern is then transferred to the wood article by sandblasting, whereby the "mask" material component of the laminate protects underlying portions (e.g., both underlying "sign" material and underlying wood) while unmasked portions of the wood are cut and patterned by exposure to the stream of sand particles. After sandblasting, the "mask" material component of the laminate is removed to expose the "sign" material layer of the laminate. The "sign" material, which could be a corporate logo, design, lettering, etc., then becomes a permanent part of the patterned wood article.
A number of prior patents disclose procedures for forming decorative patterns on glass, plastic and metal. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,267,621 to Meyers et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,837,881 to Hix, U.S. Pat. No. 4,093,754 to Parsons, U.S. Pat. No. 4,133,919 to Parsons, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,199,358 to Parsons all disclose using silk-screen procedures to form a pattern of a masking material on a glass, plastic, or metal substrate, curing the masking material to render a sandblast resistant mask, and transferring the pattern to the glass, plastic or metal substrate via sandblasting.